Public User's Meeting

The Public User's Meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the 1st floor conference room 1D70/1D80 of the Jefferson Building at 500 Dulany Street on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia. Amanda Putnam, Manager of Public Records Division, chaired the meeting. There were 5 members of the public in attendance.

Announcements

There are 2 new hires in CISG:

Dale Singletary in Public Records Division as Supervisor in DSB/Customer Service

Laura Hill in PISD as a Supervisor in PSF/Research Support

Public Search Facility Updates

Beta test for TM Status location application by the public ends tomorrow. Feedback has been received so that it can be reported to the developers.

Trademark microfilm: cabinets are being reorganized and additional new cabinets have been ordered to replace older cabinets.

Comment: Vacuuming used to be done in Crystal City and new location but stopped abruptly. Why? Answer: Basic cleaning is done, with some surface dusting, light vacuuming, pickup trash, etc. We are working on implementing a more in-depth cleaning program suitable for a public facility.

There are some problems with the restrooms. The men's room was flooded and may have been caused by member of public last week. Users are asked to participate in keeping up the facilities.

There have been improvements to the signage in the PSF. We are attempting to provide current information as much as possible.

A lighting study is currently being planned for the PSF and a lighting survey for the users to provide feedback. Some experimentation will be performed with the lighting to find the best solution to the complaints from users concerning the brightness of the overhead lighting. The public will be notified before the experimentation begins.

Thermostats have been modified because of complaints that the PSF is too hot. Users should give the changes a couple of days to be felt in the PSF.

Questions about the refresh rate for monitors in the PSF were answered. There are 2 models of monitors, NEC and Samsung. The refresh rates are different for each, NEC requires a lower rate, and therefore, all monitors are set at the same rate.

Phone booth enclosures – cell phone booth is forthcoming. It will be placed in the back of the 2nd floor area for privacy. Only 1 booth will be installed at this time to see how it works out, before any additional ones are ordered.

Text transfer problem is an installer problem. It has been fixed. A message appears when attempting to send email “6 rows selected”.